It’s not awful!

Interesting week for Mr. Holgorsen:

– WVU is down on quarterback play and Holgorsen is losing sleep as he admits he probably overestimated his team.

– Slow starts are a critically bad habit, the first-quarter scoring and second-half defenses are both bad, but at least TCU has a problem out of the gate.

– And it all happens as Oliver Luck’s world turns. He’ll interview soon — before Sunday, I’m hearing — and there are college people who expect Texas will select, if not name, its new A.D. this weekend. It’s not necessarily Luck, but if it is, WVU won’t be caught off guard. The Mountaineers seem to understand they may be about to wave goodbye.

You are looking live at the scene outside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It’s a little like Toomers Corner, yes? It’s WVU v. Kansas State and not only are the Mountaineers playing their third Big 12 opponent coming out of an open week, but it’s also Homecoming for the Wildcats.

Terribly nice people, I must say. Enjoyed a few elevator rides and waits in checkout lines with folks quick to note I was an out-of-towner specifically because I wasn’t wearing purple. Where else does that happen that doesn’t involve Prince?

Snyder is kind of like the king here. I don’t wan to pound that into the ground, but there aren’t a lot of stadiums that are known by a person’s name and the ones that are aren’t commonly referred to by the name. A lot of people call Darrell K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium just Memorial Stadium. DKR is also socially acceptable.  Mountaineer Field trumps Milan Puskar Stadium. A lot of the namesakes are no longer with us. Bill Snyder is not only with us, but he’s actively coaching. It’s a rarity and it works because he’s kind of like the perfect guy for this place. It’s all very familial and those are the kinds of things Snyder constantly preaches as the fabric of his intrinsic values.

Dude also loves his throwback windbreakers, his coffee and his Taco Bell. Good man.

Speaking of food, how about this greeting inside the press box?

I like this place. How about a uniquely flavored and succulent live post? Place your order, please.

Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which would like to point out the two quarterback system the Daily Mail used with aplomb this week.

I’ve been in Missouri all week, but Monsieur McGill — he needs a gimmick … no argyle, no ridiculously large pizzas, no insistence on stopping to get a six pack after every bowl practice — covered the football part of things while I covered Kansas State special teams (Hint: Uhoh), Big 12 basketball, more new rules that might help WVU, the imminent rise of Team Canada and what’s going on inside the head of Oliver Luck.

Football was not neglected and amid the conversation this week about how K-State is different this year because the Wildcats lack Collin Klein, would you believe this?

Through the first six games of Collin Klein’s 2012 season, a year that ended with a third-place Heisman Trophy finish, he had 1,079 passing yards, 515 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns.

Klein graduated, but that might not provide much respite for West Virginia, which plays at Kansas State this Saturday (3:45 p.m., Fox Sports 1).

The Wildcats use a two-quarterback system in lieu of Klein’s dual-threat skills, but the combined production is similar in 2013. Junior Jake Waters and sophomore Daniel Sams have combined for 1,297 passing yards, 673 rushing yards and 15 total touchdowns through six games this season.

“They both can throw it and run it,” WVU senior defensive tackle Shaq Rowell said of K-State’s signal callers.

So that’s going to be something to watch for Saturday. Specifically, I want to see Keith Patterson in action. Big week for him after his defense came up small the last two games. The Wildcats are capable of two different offenses with their two quarterbacks — Dan Sams being the runner, Jake Waters the passer — and doesn’t that mean Patterson needs to have two defenses?

That might mean different personnel, but we know personnel is at least a question mark this week. Who’s healthy? Who out? How does that affect packages to stop the run or contest the pass? Will Darwin Cook and/or Karl Joseph play cornerback on occasion like they did against Oklahoma State, which also liked to run its quarterback?

The Wildcats are tough at home and they’re coming off an open week. They were getting better on defense and with the running game before the open week, but they’ll have their top two receivers, Tyler Lockett and Tramaine Thompson back this week. It’s dangerous, as it always in on the road and in the Big 12, for the Mountaineers.

Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, duck for cover.

glibglub said:

You know the old saw about picturing your audience in their underwear if you’re nervous about public speaking? I invite those upset about DH’s black threads to picture him in gold and blue underwear, and never speak of it publicly again. Clearly the man is in mourning for the offense.

And we’re off!

Hey, we’re live at 11 a.m. The chat will be open for questions an hour before we begin. And here’s the mobile link. But first, it’s Scoop & Score on SMCRadio.com at 9 a.m.. Chris Simms from Fox Sports 1 will join me in the second half. I’ll be sure to ask him plenty about WVU’s quarterback situation. I’ll also tell you about my conversation with Oliver Luck last week.

Big show, big chat, big day. See you there?

I suppose we can and ought to start by adjusting the thermostat. Losing to the team that’s now ranked No. 10 and is one of two handfuls of teams left in the FBS without a loss isn’t necessarily Bad. Yet losing by 10 after leading by 11 despite trailing by 13 earlier isn’t exactly Good, either.

Dana Holgorsen believes his team should have beaten Texas Tech Saturday, and I think a lot of people are down with that. Yet I think a lot of people wonder whether that’s the basement or the ceiling right now. Does one take solace in that or is it a solemn occasion? Holgorsen’s third West Virginia team is in that tricky position where playing hard and well in a loss to what qualifies as an elite team eight weeks into the season is right on the edge of encouraging and irrelevant. You should either feel good about that, and bemoan what went wrong, or you should wonder what went wrong and bemoan a team that can’t possibly feel good about such a defeat.

And that little slice of nowhere, I think, is where things are right now. I think the boundaries are clearly defined — play good defense, get above average quarterback play, catch a break and victory is very attainable; if not, look the heck out — and I think WVU can jump from one side to the next on the flip of a coin, or a gust of the wind. The team flashes. It has potential. It doesn’t have heavy enough hands or feet to land the big blows or to accelerate away from the opposition.

That’s neither Good nor Bad, but it feels like reality and it sort of makes you choose your own adventure for what follows, both here and during the much-more-manageable sequence of games that ends the season. WVU is 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 after Saturday’s 37-27 loss to the Red Raiders. How did we get here? Let’s take a look by examining the good and the bad of WVU v. Texas Tech.

Good: Ingenuity
OK, so I realize I’ve been the bad guy when it comes to WVU’s special teams. I don’t think it’s been much more than pointing out the obvious and wondering why the obvious is the reality, but I’ve been told it is at times heavy-handed. I think my big problem is that things never change. Changing players doesn’t quite do it for me because, believe it or not, sometimes it is the scheme. Example: Wendell Smallwood was very good on kickoff returns against Baylor. He was decidedly not against Texas Tech. The player changed before the Baylor game. The plan didn’t change after Baylor until he’d been tackled inside the 15-yard line for the sixth or seventh time Saturday — I lost count, which isn’t good. Then he was better and it was because he wasn’t slicing through the horizon. He went vertical.

WVU’s plans on special teams haven’t changed a lot the past two-plus years and I don’t think it’s a reach to say that has a lot or everything to do with substandard statistics.

Yet this play was interesting and maybe even encouraging because it was something. Fielding punts had been a problem for WVU this season. Joe DeForest changed players. Changed players made the same errors. Then this happened and it was something new and it was great. At some point in the past three weeks, DeForest coached his players to fake out the opposition when the ball was in that awkward area between the 15 and the goal line. He effectively made Jordan Thompson remember one rule to cover two. Thompson recognized the ball was in the demilitarized zone, so he ran away and acted like he was going to catch it, because WVU has made everyone believe its players will catch it. The ball bounced far away and rolled into the end zone. There was no risk and a lot of reward and it was new and effective. That’s good.

This is for you and for me. Ordinary stuff, though high praise for Kansas State’s special teams and deceiving record.

Would you believe me if I told you that West Virginia’s basketball season begins with a scrimmage against Ohio State Saturday? Then it’s an exhibition at home Nov. 4 against Fairmont State and a coaching staff led by Jerrod Calhoun and featuring Joe Mazzulla. Four days later, it’s the regular-season opener at home against Mount St. Mary’s.

Today, it’s the Big 12 media day and I’ve conquered, I think, Internet issues at the Sprint Center because my laptop didn’t realize I was in Kansas City.

I know the feeling. Let’s blog.